Image transmitting apparatus

ABSTRACT

An image transmitting apparatus is provided that automatically displays an address before transmission if a user gives an instruction for adding a mark such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT”. The image transmitting apparatus of the present invention is the image transmitting apparatus transmits image data to a specified address includes an image adding portion that adds a predetermined specific image to the image data in accordance with a user&#39;s operation, wherein displays a specified address of image data before transmitting the image data to which it is indicated to add the specific image and transmits the image data with the specific image added in accordance with a user&#39;s confirming operation.

CROSS-NOTING PARAGRAPH

This non-provisional application claims priority under U.S.C. § 119(a)on Patent Application No. 2008-197190 filed in JAPAN on Jul. 31, 2008,the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an image transmitting apparatus thattransmits image data to a specified address and more particularly to animage transmitting apparatus that automatically displays the specifiedaddress before transmitting image data related to a confidentialdocument.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, an image transmitting apparatus such as a facsimileapparatus has been proposed that includes an address confirming functionof displaying a specified address to confirm whether the address iscorrect before transmission to prevent incorrect transmission (seeJapanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-234458).

Because the people are getting more concerned about the informationcrisis management in recent years, for example, an image formingapparatus has been proposed that automatically prints a mark such as“CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” in a margin area of the print to indicatethat the print is a confidential document to prevent the leak of aconfidential document when the confidential document is copied inaccordance with an instruction from a user (see Japanese Laid-OpenPatent Publication No. 2003-274133).

If a user frequently uses facsimile transmission, the address confirmingfunction may be turned off because it is cumbersome to confirm theaddresses with the address confirming function before transmission.

As a result, the user performs the facsimile transmission withoutconfirming whether the specified addresses are correct, and if aconfidential document is incorrectly transmitted, the confidentialdocument is leaked to the outside.

If a confidential document is leaked in this way, it is no useautomatically setting a mark such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” in amargin area of image data to indicate that the image data (transmissiondata) is a confidential document and transmitting the image data throughthe use of the technical means disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2003-274133 from the aspect of information management.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to provide an imagetransmitting apparatus that includes a function of adding a mark such as“CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” to image data to indicate that the imagedata is a confidential document and that automatically displays theaddress before transmission if a user gives an instruction for addingthe mark to image data.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an imagetransmitting apparatus transmitting image data to a specified address,wherein an image adding portion that adds a predetermined specific imageto the image data in accordance with a user's operation is provided, andthe image transmitting apparatus displays a specified address of imagedata before transmitting the image data to which it is indicated to addthe specific image, and transmits the image data with the specific imageadded in accordance with a user's confirming operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the imagetransmitting apparatus, wherein the image data or the image data withthe specific image added is displayed as a preview along with thedisplay of the address.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the imagetransmitting apparatus, wherein the specific image is a text image suchas “CONFIDENTIAL”, “SECRET”, or “IMPORTANT”.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the imagetransmitting apparatus, wherein the transmission of the image data isperformed through facsimile communication or e-mail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an operation screen;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an address book screen;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a special mode screen;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a stamp selection screen;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an address confirmation screen;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an image transmitting apparatus according to thepresent invention connected through a network to external apparatuses;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting apparatusaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exterior appearance of an operation panel; and

FIG. 9 is an explanatory flowchart of address confirming screen display.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A schematic of the present invention will be described with reference tooperation screens displayed on a display panel of an image transmittingapparatus according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5.

The image transmitting apparatus according to the present inventionautomatically displays the address before transmission when image datais transmitted with a stamp such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” addedin accordance with a user's instruction.

(Setting of Transmission Conditions)

An operation of a user setting various transmission conditions willfirst be described.

When a user sets a document for transmission on an auto document feeder(ADF) of the image transmitting apparatus and operates a send key(described later) on an operation panel, an operation screen 51 of FIG.1 is displayed on the display panel.

It is assumed that the document for transmission is a document with ahigher necessity of confidentiality.

When the user operates an address book button 51 a on the operationscreen 51 to specify an address, an address book screen 52 of FIG. 2 isdisplayed. Reference numeral 51 b of FIG. 1 denotes a special modebutton for displaying a setting screen to add a stamp such as“CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” to image data to indicate that thedocument has a higher necessity of confidentiality.

When an address button 52 a on the address book screen 52 is operated tospecify an address, the screen returns to the operation screen ofFIG. 1. An address entry button 52 b may be operated to directly enterthe address like xxx@hogehoge.foo.

When the user operates the special mode button 51 b on the operationscreen 51 to add a stamp such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT” to imagedata to indicate that the document has a higher necessity ofconfidentiality, a special mode screen 53 of FIG. 3 is displayed on thedisplay panel.

When the user operates a stamp button 53 a on the special mode screen53, a stamp selection screen 54 of FIG. 4 is displayed to select thestamp such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “IMPORTANT”.

When the user operates a “CONFIDENTIAL” button 54 a on the stampselection screen 54, characters of “CONFIDENTIAL” are set in apredetermined area of the image data, for example, a blank area on theupper left corner of a paper sheet.

The user also sets the transmission conditions such as resolution and acolor mode through the operation screens, operation keys, etc.

(Display of Address Confirming Screen)

The processing of displaying an address confirming screen after thesetting of the above transmission conditions will be described.

After the setting of the transmission conditions, for example, if theuser operates an OK button 54 b on the stamp selection screen 54 of FIG.4 and a start key (described later), the image transmitting apparatusscans (reads) a document set on the ADF to generate image data(transmission data).

An address confirming screen 55 is then automatically displayed on thedisplay panel. Reference numeral 56 denotes an address confirming dialogdisplaying the specified address and Reference numeral 57 denotes apreview display screen displaying a scanned document (image).

When the user confirms the address, operates an OK button 56 a on theaddress confirming dialog 56, and operates a start send button 55 a, theimage data with the “CONFIDENTIAL” stamp added is transmitted to thespecified address.

When the user operates a reset button 56 b on the address confirmingdialog 56, the operation screen 51 of FIG. 1 is displayed to allow theuser to re-specify the correct address.

As a result, if a mark is set in image data to indicate that the imagedata is a confidential document, an address may be confirmed beforetransmission and, therefore, the incorrect transmission may beprevented.

Since the image data may be displayed for preview in addition to theaddress confirmation, the convenience of the user is enhanced byenabling the confirmation of whether the document for transmission iscorrectly read or whether a type of the set stamp is the desired type.

FIG. 6 depicts an image transmitting apparatus 1 according to thepresent invention connected through a network to external apparatuses.

For example, the image transmitting apparatus 1 is connected to afacsimile apparatus 2 a through a public switched telephone network PN,to a PC 3 a through a local network LN, and to a facsimile apparatus 2 band a PC 3 b through the internet IN. The image transmitting apparatus 1is assumed to be a multi-function peripheral (MFP) in this embodiment.

The image transmitting apparatus 1 is capable of transmitting image datato the facsimile apparatuses (2 a, 2 b) and the PCs (3 a, 3 b) andreceiving data from the facsimile apparatuses, etc.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting apparatus1 according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a network I/F which provides an interfacefunction for a network N to perform data transmission/reception to/froma facsimile apparatus 2, a PC 3, etc., connected to the network N.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an operation panel for operating the imagetransmitting apparatus 1 and the operation panel is composed of adisplay panel, a ten key, etc. FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exteriorappearance of an operation panel 12.

Reference numeral 12 a denotes a display panel that displays the addressconfirming screen 55 of FIG. 5; Reference numeral 12 b denotes a startkey for starting scan/starting transmission; and Reference numeral 12 cdenotes an image send key for displaying the operation screen 51 for theimage send of FIG. 1, for example.

Reference numeral 13 of FIG. 7 denotes a scanner portion including ADF,etc., to scan a document to generate image data to be transmitted.

Reference numeral 14 is a data transmission/reception portion that has afacsimile communication function and an e-mail function. For example, ifimage data, etc., generated by the scanner portion 13 is transmitted toan address specified by the facsimile function, the image data isprocessed in a predetermined processing such as compression beforetransmission.

If the image data is transmitted to a specified address by the e-mailfunction, the image data is converted into, for example, a TIFF (TagImage File Format) file and the TIFF file is attached to a multipartmail in accordance with MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension), forexample. The mail is then transmitted to the specified address.

Reference numeral 15 denotes an image forming portion that has an imageforming function (printing function) and the image forming portion iscomprised of a photoreceptor drum, a developing device, a cleaning unit,etc.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a memory that stores OSD data such asoperation screens displayed on the display panel 12 a, an address book,and various pieces of control information, and Reference numeral 17denotes an HDD for recording image data generated by the scanner portion13 and image data transmitted by the facsimile apparatuses 2, the PCs 3,etc.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a control portion that controls thefunctional blocks and the control portion executes the display controlfor the operation screens, etc.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a specific image adding portion that adds apredetermined specific image (stamp) to image data to be transmitted inaccordance with the user's operation. The specific image refers to, forexample, a text image such as “CONFIDENTIAL”, “SECRET”, or “IMPORTANT”.

The above adding processing may be performed with the use of variousmethods conventionally proposed, for example, the method disclosed inJapanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-274133.

Upon receipt of an instruction for adding the specific image to imagedata through the stamp selection screen 54 of FIG. 4 from a user, thespecific image adding portion 21 turns on a confirming screen displayflag stored in the memory 16.

Reference numeral 22 denotes an address confirming screen displaycontrol portion and, if a user gives an instruction for adding thespecific image (the confirming screen display flag is turned on), theaddress confirming screen display control portion controls theprocessing of displaying a confirming screen (dialog) of FIG. 5 forconfirming the address specified by the user, for example.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a preview display control portion thatdisplays a document image read by the scanner portion 13 (image datagenerated by the scanner portion 13) on the display panel 12 a of theoperation panel 12, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, along with thedisplay of the confirming screen.

The image data to be displayed may be the image data with the specificimage added or may be the image data without the specific image.

Before transmitting the image data to which it is indicated to add thespecific image to image data through the user's operation, the addressconfirming screen display control portion 22 automatically displays theaddress confirming screen 55 (the address confirming dialog 56) thatconfirms the specified address of the image data. The preview displaycontrol portion 23 may automatically display a preview of the image dataon the display panel 12 a together with the display of the addressconfirming screen.

After the user confirms the address, operates the OK button 56 a on theaddress confirming dialog 56, and operates the start send button 55 a onthe address confirming screen 55, i.e., after the user's confirmingoperation, the data transmission/reception portion 14 transmits theimage data with the specific image added to the specified address.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory flowchart of the address confirming screendisplay.

For example, a user sets a document for transmission on the ADF of theimage transmitting apparatus 1 (step S1) and operates the address button52 a on the address book screen 52 shown in FIG. 2, for example, tospecify an address (step S2). The user sets the transmission conditionsand operates the “CONFIDENTIAL” button 54 a on the stamp selectionscreen 54 shown in FIG. 4, for example (step S3).

When the user operates the start key 12 b on the operation panel 12(step S4), the scanner portion 13 reads the document set on the ADF togenerate image data corresponding to the document (step S5). Thegenerated image data is processed in various image processings andrecorded in the HDD 16.

The address confirming screen display control portion 22 determineswhether an instruction is issued to add a stamp such as “CONFIDENTIAL”to the image data (step S6). The determination is made by checkingwhether the confirming screen display flag is turned on as above.

If the instruction is issued (step S6/YES), the address confirmingscreen display control portion 22 automatically displays the addressconfirming screen 55 (the address confirming dialog 56) on the displaypanel 12 a of the operation panel 12 as shown in FIG. 5 (step S7). Atthe time of the display, the preview display control portion 23 maydisplay a preview of the transmission image data.

After confirming the address displayed on the address confirming dialog56, when the user operates the OK button 56 a on the dialog 56 (stepS8/YES) and operates the start send button 55 a on the addressconfirming screen 55 (step S9), the specific image adding portion 21adds a text image such as “CONFIDENTIAL” to the image data recorded onthe HDD 16 and outputs to the data transmission/reception portion 14 theimage data with the text image added. The data transmission/receptionportion 14 receives the image data and transmits to the specifiedaddress the image data with the “CONFIDENTIAL” stamp added (step S10).

If the user determines that the specified address is incorrect, the useroperates the reset button 56 b of the address confirming dialog 56 (stepS8/NO) to specify the address again (step S11).

If it is determined at step S6 that the instruction for adding a stampsuch as “CONFIDENTIAL” to the image data is not received through thestamp selection screen 54 from the user (step S6/NO), the datatransmission/reception portion 14 transmits the image data generated bythe scanner portion 13 to the specified address (step S10).

When the preview of the transmission image data is displayed along withthe address confirming dialog 56 at step S7, if the user determinesthat, for example, a type of the set stamp is not the desired one, theprocess goes to step S3 and a type of the stamp may be reset.

The stamp such as “CONFIDENTIAL” may be added not only to image datagenerated by the scanner but also image data from the PC 3 to transmitthe image data to the specified address. In this case, the image datareceived from the PC 3 is selected at step S1 of the flowchart FIG. 9.The processing after step S2 is subsequently executed except step 5.

According to the present invention, the following effect may beacquired.

If the image transmitting apparatus adds a mark to indicate that theimage data is a confidential document according to the presentinvention, the specified address is automatically displayed beforetransmission and, therefore, the confidential document may be preventedfrom being leaked to the outside due to incorrect transmission.

1. (canceled)
 2. An image transmitting apparatus transmitting image data to a specified address, comprising: an image adder configured to add a specific image to the image data, and an address display control circuit configured to display the specified address when the specific image is added to the image data after specifying an address.
 3. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the address display control portion is configured not to display the specified address when the specific image is not added to the image data.
 4. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the address display control circuit is configured to further display a confirmation screen for confirming whether the image data added with the specific image is to be transmitted when the specific image is added to the image data, and not to display the confirmation screen when the specific image is not added to the image data.
 5. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, further comprising a preview display control circuit configured to display the image data added with the specific image as a preview along with the display of the address.
 6. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, further comprising a preview display control circuit configured to display the image data as a preview regardless of whether the specific image is added to the image data or not.
 7. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the specific image is a text image “CONFIDENTIAL”, “SECRET”, or “IMPORTANT”.
 8. The image transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the transmission of the image data is performed through facsimile communication or e-mail. 